NHL Blue Jackets sting Coyotes for 3-3 deadlock

Defenseman Anders Eriksson scored twice for Columbus.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- With their top scorer hurt, the Columbus Blue Jackets got two goals from an obscure defenseman and another on a penalty shot by an emerging standout.
All of that enabled Columbus to come out of a tie feeling like winners.
David Vyborny converted the penalty shot and Anders Eriksson scored twice, allowing the Blue Jackets to rally twice for a 3-3 draw with the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night.
The Blue Jackets played their first game without left wing Rick Nash, who was leading the NHL in goals (31) when he took a shot in the foot against Minnesota on Saturday night. He did not travel to Phoenix with the team.
"You've got to go back to the fundamentals of the team game," assistant coach Gord Murphy said. "Don't pass up a shot, let's get some traffic to the net and maybe get some lucky bounces."
Brian Boucher stopped 25 shots for the Coyotes. Ladislav Nagy and Jan Hrdina had a goal and an assist each, and Mike Sillinger scored a go-ahead goal in the third period.
But it wasn't enough for the Coyotes to end their four-game winless streak. They were 0-for-6 on the power play and continued the sporadic effort that characterized their three previous losses -- all at home.
New arena blues
The Coyotes are 8-11-4-1 at home and only 2-7-2-0 at the new Glendale Arena.
"We've had a difficult time playing at home, put it on the table," coach Bob Francis said.
Vyborny's penalty-shot goal at 1:23 of the second period was the second the Coyotes allowed in four games. Calgary's Shean Donovan beat the Coyotes on Jan. 27.
Vyborny, who scored twice on penalty shots in 2000-01 to become the first rookie to do so, tied the game at 2. He was awarded the free shot after Shane Doan tripped him to stop a short-handed breakaway.
With the puck again, Vyborny skated right, then curled left across the crease before shooting back past Boucher on the short side.
"I just tried to relax," Vyborny said.
Two days after his second goal of the season won a game against the Wild, Eriksson took one shot in the first period and one in the third, scoring with 6:11 remaining each time.
His second goal negated Sillinger's go-ahead effort 1:20 into the third.
Marc Denis had 29 saves for Columbus, which has the NHL's worst road record (3-15-4-2) but is 2-4-3-0 away from home since Gerard Gallant became interim coach on Jan. 1.
Hrdina scored 1:43 into the game, and Nagy made it 2-0 at the 6:09 mark.